WALTHAM, Mass. – Bridgewater State University junior 2B Sean Riley (Fairhaven, Mass./Fairhaven) had a career game today to lead the visiting Bears' baseball team past host Brandeis University, 19-4, in the Judges' home opener on Stein Diamond today. With the loss, Brandeis falls to 5-11 on the season, while BSU evens their record at 7-7.
Riley, batting lead-off, reached base five of his six plate appearances, going 4-for-5 with a walk. He scored five runs and drove in another six, stroking two doubles – his team-leading eighth and ninth of the season – while also hitting his first home run of the campaign.
Classmate 1B David Pierce (E. Bridgewater, Mass./E. Bridgewater) also had a terrific game out of the second slot in the order, going 2-for-5 with a walk, a triple, five RBI and three runs scored. In all, 10 different BSU players had hits, with five registering at least two. Bridgewater State batted around in three different innings, scoring nine times in the first and four each in the second and sixth innings. The visitors finished with 18 hits.
Eleven different Brandeis hitters managed 13 hits against Bridgewater State junior starter Bryant Warner (Harwich, Mass./Harwich), but the Judges were unable to put anything across the plate until seventh. Warner avoided trouble by issuing just one walk over his eight innings of work while striking out eight, including some big Ks with runners in scoring position. He evened his record at 1-1.
The Judges' first run came on a Joe Galli (Wakefield, Mass./Wakefield Memorial) RBI single in the seventh. In the eighth, they got an RBI single by sophomore 1B Pat Seaward (York, Maine/York), the second hit and first RBI of his career, a bases-loaded HBP by rookie pinch hitter Zach Bardwell (No. Andover, Mass./Central Catholic) and a ground-out by Galli. Brandeis's multiple hitters were junior RF Dylan Britton (Poughquag, N.Y./Arlington) and sophomore SS Dom Schwartz (San Francisco, Calif./Lowell). Rookie DH Dan Gad (Mansfield, Mass./Mansfield) had the team's only extra-base hit, a double in the seventh that preceded Galli's single, allowing him to score the Judges' first run. Brandeis sophomore Colin Markel (Scarsdale, N.Y./Scarsdale) suffered the loss to fall to 1-1 on the season.
Brandeis will have a chance to get back on the horse tomorrow at 3 p.m. when they take on Wentworth Institute of Technology at 3 p.m. BSU hosts Suffolk University Thursday at 3 p.m.